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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027744">A Place of Tides</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/billspilledquill/pseuds/billspilledquill'>billspilledquill</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Places [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>CPTSD, Canon-Typical Homophobia, Canonical Child Abuse, Chakra Bond/Mind Bond, Dyslexia, Ft: Naruto’s inability process/label feelings, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Chapter 699 (Naruto), Shinobi Politics (Naruto), Survivor Guilt, and Sasuke’s emotionally constipated self</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:54:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,985</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/billspilledquill/pseuds/billspilledquill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where they travel the world, adopt children, and pretend to be married all for the sake of justice.</p><p>Sequel to <em>A Place of Stone</em>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Places [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Equilibrium</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>[The Equilibrium tide is the idealized tide assuming a landless Earth, producing a tidal bulge in the ocean with a shape that bends toward the attracting body of the Sun or the Moon.]</em>
</p><p><br/><br/>“You know you can just ask me, right? Why read when the real person is <em>right here</em> in front of you is beyond me.”</p><p>Sasuke didn’t look up from the scroll. “I doubt you can explain better than academic writing, Naruto. You are not nearly acerbic enough.”</p><p>Naruto’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Acer-ba-what?” he said, shaking his head off the absurd notion of multi-syllabic words. “You are reading on Jinchūriki, right? The Tailed Beasts Scroll. I mean, I am like, y’know, one of them.”</p><p>“I’m reading on the speed of the host’s chakra in relation to the beast, <em>objective</em> information backed by studies and statistics. It dictates the interconnection between possession Justus and Bijū hosts. What do you know about chakra flow and how do you think it impacts your blood circulation?”</p><p>“Er,” Naruto said.</p><p>“Keep quiet,” Sasuke said. “Go to sleep.”</p><p>Distantly, Sasuke heard the shuffling of sheets, and a train of murmurs that promised insults of the highest calibre.</p><p>“Read it to me,” Naruto ordered.  </p><p>“Read it yourself,” Sasuke said. Naruto jumped from his bed and settled next to the scroll. He squinted at the words.</p><p>“Okay,” he said.  </p><p>“Read it out-loud.”</p><p>Naruto’s lips thinned. “I can’t.”</p><p>“I know you can read,” Sasuke said.</p><p>Naruto didn’t say anything for a moment. “It’s hard to read,” he said, frowning. “The words are just.. all jumbled up together or something.”</p><p>Sasuke remembered; Naruto being asked to read out-loud in the Academy, struggling to work through a word and being laughed off-stage. The intensity of his focus on the words, and nothing came out but intelligible gibberish. </p><p>“Go back to your bed,” Sasuke said. He balanced the scroll on his knees and began to read.</p><p>“<em>The chakra from the Bijū exerts extreme power; many hosts do not survive infancy. This reality prompts the Bijū to be sought after by powerful individuals</em>,” Sasuke recited, his eyes flickering. “<em>Some hosts have gone mad and driven to suicide. The mental strain, akin to possession and mind Justus, damage chakra reserves of weaker individuals such as the elderly or infants, sometimes resulting to a break in the nervous system, resulting to</em>—"</p><p>“<em>Death</em>.” Naruto turned, his back facing him, the bed creaking as he did. “You see? I know what I am talking about. Just ask me next time you want to know stuff about them. I know better than any damn scroll, I swear.”</p><p>Sasuke scanned a few more words before rolling the scroll and putting it away. He settled on his bed, listen to it creak. He craned his head, reaching forward to snuff out the candle. Sasuke stared at the dark celling, and the small, crammed room felt even more stale and suffocating.</p><p>“Did it hurt?” he asked.</p><p>“I thought you were asking for practical information and statis-something,” said Naruto.</p><p>“I want to understand,” Sasuke said, eyes upfront. “The things that make you. The things I once mocked you for. I thought they made us different.”</p><p>Naruto snorted. In the dark, the presence of another’s chakra was reassuring. “You mocked me for a lot of things.”</p><p>“Not this,” Sasuke said. “Never this. I shouldn’t have.”</p><p>“I thought I killed my parents,” Naruto said. “When no one told me who my parents were, I thought I killed them. That I lost control and I straight up murdered them. It wasn’t that far from the truth.”</p><p>“I killed Itachi,” Sasuke said. “You didn’t kill your parents. There is a difference between sacrifice and murder.”</p><p>“I could have saved them. I could have saved more.” Naruto’s voice turned into a drowsy whisper. “The war. Neji. My parents. I could have.”</p><p>“You survived,” he said.</p><p>The smell of the candle lingered. Naruto shifted in his sheets. “You did as well,” Naruto said.</p><p>The words shifted, and reminded Sasuke of something he didn’t want to remember; something that involved blood and a bright full moon. “Go to sleep,” he said.</p><p>A soft snore answered him. Sasuke closed his eyes, and listened to the clattering of windows as the wind rose and rain fell to the same exact rhythm.</p><p>*</p><p>Sasuke blinked awake to Naruto’s shadow. He was perched to the windowsill, his elbow rested on his folded knees.</p><p>“You had a nightmare,” Naruto explained. “It was loud.”</p><p>Sasuke tired to speak. He succeeded the second time. “Am I supposed to apologize?”</p><p>Naruto looked at him with a frown. “No,” he said. “I expected it. You haven’t changed from when we had our first mission. Our first <em>real</em> mission, anyway. You were thrashing so loudly that night I couldn’t sleep.”</p><p>“You weren’t sleeping,” Sasuke said.</p><p>“It did hurt,” Naruto said. Sasuke remembered the question. “Sometimes it hurt and I can’t sleep.” </p><p>“You gave me water,” Sasuke said. “And you did this.”</p><p>Sasuke released his chakra and tugged on Naruto’s; their chakra mingled, and Sasuke’s shoulders fell lax, his chakra humming under the familiarity of the bond.</p><p>“That night was the first time I met the beast. It had spoken to me,” Sasuke said.</p><p>“What did he say?”</p><p>“It asked me what I can do. It said that I was weak.”</p><p>Naruto’s face was bright against the window, his hair glowing white. “You’re the strongest person I know.”</p><p>“I gathered that when I had the pleasure of almost killing you.”</p><p>Naruto’s gaze trailed after the raindrops down the glass. “You know I wasn’t talking that.”</p><p>“I know,” he said. Neither of them choose to elaborate.</p><p>“Gaara wants to meet us,” Naruto said, his silhouette visible against the moonlight. A man from Suna had given the message that Gaara requires Naruto’s presence in Suna some time in the following week.</p><p><em>(As quick as you are physically capable, Naruto</em>, the letter dictated. <em>You are a considerable target for a considerable number of individuals. Many people hold old grudges, and many hold power. I won’t go against your decision, but come to Suna, for a visit if you will. The doors are always open for you.)</em></p><p>“He is worried about your safety. I haven’t got anything to do with it. If anything, he is wary of me.”</p><p>Naruto hesitated. “I thought if he wants to see me, then he wants to see you, too. Surely he knows you’re with me.”</p><p>“We can stay Ame for a few more days,” Sasuke countered, closing his eyes and willing thoughts to disappear. “We haven’t seen enough.”</p><p>“<em>Three days</em>,” Naruto scoffed. “That’s all that rat-faced grandma gave us. Three whole days to try and see for ourselves an entire nation.”</p><p>“Ame’s position as a new member of the Shinobi alliance is extremely fragile,” Sasuke drawled, short of a sigh. “Most of the population remain war refugees of other nations. It hasn’t recovered from Pain. Hanzō’s past reign ensured fear for change amidst the population. Giving us three days is generous, and that’s considering you, the hero of the Shinobi world, demanded a visit from the provisional government. By doing so you’re acknowledging their legitimacy, and therefore Amekagure’s future.”</p><p>Naruto gave a short, breathless laugh. “Man,” he said incredulously, “and you got all that from studying your scrolls?”</p><p>“You have made two orphan friends today,” Sasuke pointed out.</p><p>Naruto huffed. “They have names, y’know. And they are kids. They are so much easier to talk to than some boring officials all high up in that metal tower. That grandma gives me the creeps.”</p><p>“Amekage,” he corrected.</p><p>“Creepy old grandma.”</p><p>“Go to sleep,” Sasuke said, already drifting off. The warmth had him relaxed and sated. The chakra was friendly; it embraced him wholly, without fear.</p><p>“It’s raining,” Naruto said.</p><p>“It’s always raining in Ame.”</p><p>Naruto made no response. If he nodded, Sasuke didn’t see it. With his mind at peace, Sasuke slept, thinking about how the rain might clear tomorrow, and how Naruto would smile at those children, and sneak them candy hurriedly when he thought Sasuke wasn’t looking.</p><p>*</p><p>“Of course we are married,” Naruto said to the child, and instead of giving her candy, he gave Sasuke an insufferable headache instead. “Of course your dads weren’t the only ones out there. We just like to have a little secret, y’know? It’s more, er, romantic.”</p><p>“Ro-man-tic?” The girl said, wide-eyed. “Do you mean you hold hands?”</p><p>“Sure thing,” Naruto said easily, and took Sasuke’s hand in his.</p><p>“And hug?”</p><p>Naruto led Sasuke into a half-hearted embrace, swinging their arms and clasping their hands together.</p><p>“And—” she looked a little embarrassed; a feeling that she had unfortunately braved through. "Do you ki—”</p><p>“No,” Naruto said, releasing Sasuke, his hand shaking as he did. “We don’t do that.”</p><p>The girl lifted her bony shoulders. “Oh, okay,” she said. Her eyes were bulging out in excitement, and Sasuke’s headache only increased. “What about the rings? I want to see the rings!”</p><p>Naruto’s smile froze in its ever-growing track. “What rings?”</p><p>“Dad always wore the ring.” She gestured at her index finger. “The marriage rings!”</p><p>Naruto blinked. “I didn’t know that,” he said, scratching his cheek. “I thought rings are just decorations.”  </p><p>“Idiot,” Sasuke muttered under his breath. The girl laughed happily, clapping her two bone-thin hands together.</p><p>Naruto shook his head, and laughed with her. “C’mon, we’ll get you some food. Stay at the house, okay? Bring your friends along. I heard Akio is getting a haircut from you today?”</p><p>“He’s going to look great!” she said proudly, already running off. “I’ll see you, Naruto-niisan, and Uchiha-san, too!”</p><p>“You bought her a five-piece <em>house</em>,” Sasuke stated plainly on their way to the supermarket. “How’s that for the budget?”</p><p>“Shut up,” Naruto snapped. “I bought it with my own funds. I haven’t touched much of my money and now I am putting them in good use. She will share the house with other kids her age; it’s good investment.”</p><p>“She needs a caretaker,” Sasuke said.</p><p>“We did alright at her age without one,” Naruto said, albeit weakly. “I know you’re right. But kids need a house more than anything, trust me. They need somewhere to call their own.”</p><p>Sasuke looked away. The rain was raging, but none of them took notice. “Why the stunt earlier?”</p><p>“Her adoptive parents were civilians. They were killed by the villagers,” Naruto explained, hands budging in his pockets. “Couldn’t bear to see them together. I had to convince her that her dads weren’t evil or anything. Apparently that’s what they have been saying around here. It was the best I could came up with.”</p><p>Sasuke shrugged. “I am getting <em>edible</em> food,” he said, and went into the busting crowds. He came back with a bag of tomatoes and a pound of pre-cooked meat.</p><p>“There was no cup ramen,” Sasuke said to the devastated look on Naruto’s face. “I’m lying, obviously. I didn’t want to buy them.”</p><p>Naruto growled dangerously. He crossed his arms and pouted. “Travelling with you is no fun,” he said, taking two of the bags and swing them to his back. “At least you should think about the kids. They should be allowed real food. <em>Good</em> food.”</p><p>“Poisoning children is not what I consider fun,” Sasuke said. “Meat are incredibly rare in this area. Ame had only since accepted import from other nations. The price had been too high to buy anything else, let alone cup ramen.”</p><p>“And the tomatoes?” Naruto taunted loudly. “What about the tomatoes?”</p><p>“Vegetables are good. It’s a universal fact.”</p><p>“You just like to eat them,” Naruto mumbled.</p><p>The rain poured and drowned their speech. They were walking deliberately slow, and the silence felt like rain itself, branded to the background as they strolled down the tattered streets of Amekagure. They had a long way to go, Sasuke thought, and his steps became lighter as they moved.</p><p>*</p><p>“I wanted to show you,” Naruto said, grabbing him, their arms full of food, dragging a little too intently for it not to be resentment about what Naruto called the-ramen-affair. Sasuke let himself be pulled, and as they stopped, with a shout of <em>Kai!</em>, saw behind a growing set of trees two graves carved with an ugly handwriting.</p><p>“You made them,” Sasuke said, noticing the odd shape of the stones and the bouquet of paper flowers setting beside it. “I thought they were worshipped as gods in this village. Their deaths have caused havoc to the population. There should be grand processions, at least. Funeral marches.”</p><p>“That grandma was dead set in destroying their reputations,” Naruto said, resting his hand on the stone that read <em>Konan of Amekagure, the Flower of Peac</em>e. “Granted, it wasn’t <em>that</em> hard. They weren’t exactly the best people. They feared them more than they were beloved. Still, I wanted to give them a place to die peacefully. Somewhere to belong. I had to hide them. The stones kept getting destroyed.”</p><p>Sasuke knew how many people he had buried. He didn’t know how much Naruto did, how much blood he was soaked in. “To the earth. Down to their roots. Uzumaki Nagato is buried by another of his clan.”</p><p>Naruto said nothing. Still crouched, his head bended to the tomb. Sasuke can only see his hair glistening under the rain, and the slight shiver that had ran down to his spine.</p><p>“Your writing is horrible,” he remarked.</p><p>“And whose fault is it, huh?” Naruto asked without much heat, fluttering his empty sleeve. “Got to get used to my non-dominant hand because someone blew the other one off.”</p><p>“Your handwriting was already devastating at the Academy.”</p><p>Naruto laid a hand on the misshaped stone. “Reading and writing were the worst,” he said. “I never figured out why. I was trying so hard.”</p><p>Sasuke sat down beside him. Their chakra intertwined quietly, then settled on a quivering breeze. “You refused a transplant,” said Sasuke.</p><p>Naruto laughed. “Of course I did,” he said. “I haven’t got any scars on my body. It’s pretty weird when you go to onsen with your team to find out that you’re the only one that doesn’t have any scars. And now I finally have one. A big one. I am proud of it.” Naruto tilted his head. “It’s like rings. A part of me is forever tied to you, you see? It’s like a physical reminder. Pretty cool.”</p><p>He thought of his parents, their glances toward at each other when Itachi and he were busy eating after training. His heart thumped inside its cage, and banished the thought of the past. “That’s not how rings work,” Sasuke said.</p><p>“Whatever.” Naruto turned to the other stone. <em>Uzumaki Nagato</em>, it read. There was no epitaph. “I’ll tell Aki that so she will stop bugging me about the rings. What are they for, anyway?”</p><p>Sasuke examined the paper petals. Pale and cleaned, no rain had seeped in. “As you said,” Sasuke answered, “decorations.”</p><p>“He reminds me of you sometimes,” Naruto said, his head still bowed to the stone. “He cared. He loved this village.”</p><p>“Maybe,” Sasuke said, considering. “But we are not the same right now.”</p><p>Naruto held the food bags tighter. “Right,” he said with a little smile. “You’re not alone.”</p><p>“No,” Sasuke said, picking up a rock before setting it in between the two stones. Beside them, the rain raged on without a care. “I am not.”</p><p>*</p><p>“This is Takashi-san,” Aki introduced. A tall man with a large scar across his face, stretching wider as he smiled. “He is the oldest, and he is eighteen! And he can do cool stuff, just like you guys!”</p><p>“That’s very cool,” Naruto said, ruffling her hair. “How was Akio’s haircut? Did you make him the handsomest boy in town?”</p><p>She flushed happily. “You will see! He looks great!” She hurried off to the kitchen, yelling, “just wait and see, Naruto nii-san!”</p><p>“I have heard a lot about you, Naruto-san,” he said. Without looking at him, he added, “and Uchiha Sasuke, of course. A lot has been said about him in this town. Quite the legend, this one.”</p><p>“Don’t talk about him like he isn’t in this room,” Naruto said, setting down the bags as he urged Sasuke to do the same.</p><p>“Sorry,” Takashi said, bending down to take the food from their hands.</p><p>Naruto still appeared offended, but didn’t say anything else to the matter. “You look old enough to take care of them,” he said instead. “We were afraid that when we leave the kids would have to fend for themselves. You are a shinobi, right?”</p><p>“Yes,” Takashi answered. “I was a war deserter. I came to Ame and met those kids. We have lived together ever since.”</p><p>Naruto scrutinized him carefully, processing the words. “You ran away,” he said.</p><p>“That’s right,” Takashi said with a smile, “and it seems to me that I am older than you, Naruto-san. If I am not mistaken, you are seventeen. October tenth is your birthday?”</p><p>“Er,” Naruto said, blinking. “Right.”</p><p>Takashi nodded. “I will bring those bags to the kitchen. The kids are setting up the table.”</p><p>“He’s a little weird, isn’t he?” Naruto whispered to his ear after he left. “He didn’t say a single word to you.”</p><p>Sasuke glanced at him. “That’s where you find him odd?”</p><p>Naruto stared back. “Isn’t it?”</p><p>*</p><p>Akio’s hair was jagged and cut in every direction. It was the ugliest haircut he had ever seen, Sasuke thought, if it weren’t for the slight smile on the boy’s face, clearly satisfied for whatever reason that Sasuke failed to understand. Naruto’s laughter ringed through the room.</p><p>“So handsome,” Naruto said between two breathless chuckles. “You really did a good job, Aki.”</p><p>She beamed at him. “I tried to make it look like Uchiha-san’s hair!”</p><p>Naruto choked on a mouthful. “Now that you say it,” Naruto said slowly, busy alternating between wiping his mouth and straight up dying, “I can begin to see the similarity—ow!”</p><p>“What’s wrong, Naruto-nii?” Aki asked. “Something’s wrong with the food?”</p><p>“No, I just wanted to say that— itai!”</p><p>“Lovers’ quarrel, Aki,” Akio said calmly. His features so alike his sister’s schooled into a smirk as he munched on his lettuce. “The food is lovely, Takachi-san, thank you.”</p><p>“I’m glad you like it,” Takashi said lightly. “Another tomato soup, Naruto-san? You have bought a lot of them, so I assume you like it.”</p><p>“No, no, thank you,” Naruto gritted out, as though resisting to cry out in pain. “I— uh, will go. To do the dishes.”</p><p>“Take mine.” Sasuke handed him his plate and Naruto scurried off to the kitchen with a wobble at the knee.</p><p>“And mine too!” Aki cried.</p><p>Takashi watched Naruto’s retreating back, and for the first time, directed his gaze at Sasuke. It was a familiar stare; it was the one Sasuke bore in a past that he hadn’t forgotten. When he plunged his hand into Naruto’s chest; the sickening spark of triumph ablaze on his face.</p><p>“I have heard from Aki that you were married,” Takashi said when the kids hurried outside to play. The clouds had begun to clear. The distant sound of children’s laughter was the only thing that distracted Sasuke. “What are you trying to achieve by lying to children? There is no record of perverse union in our land, nor in other hidden nations. I don’t believe it.”</p><p>“Then don’t,” Sasuke said.</p><p>“I wonder how he feels, coming here and rescuing us. I bet he feels like a hero,” Takashi said, his face contorting  into a sneer. “Coming and going, pretending to be saviours that this world have never seen. But your lot is the same, always. You clean up the dirt and spit on the rug. For shame, Uchiha. I have betrayed my honor, but you have betrayed your friends.”</p><p>“A coward don’t get to lecture others.”</p><p>“You have deserted your entire village. You little friend over there is one of them,” Takashi said, his features twitching ever so slightly with every word. “I left to protect the children. They can’t live without me. You, on the other hand, have actively tried to kill and ambush. We have heard the tales. You are worst than me. You are worst than me in every disgusting way.”</p><p>“Naruto and I will leave in two days’ time,” Sasuke said, standing up, the utensils clattering as he did. “This house is under Aki’s name. You will be the twins’ caretaker, as you have claimed to be. Try not to be a coward this time around.”</p><p>Takashi laughed. His pale eyes shone feverishly. “I don’t hate you, Uchiha. What disgusts me more is dishonesty and hypocrisy, not cruelty. Uzumaki Naruto was beloved by my parents. A hero, they said of him— and died from. They died in the war that made him famous. My parents died the same day he celebrated his birthday. He survived— he survived— and he dares to come here and tell us that it all happened for a reason. That war happened for a reason,” he said, his gaze sliding away from Sasuke. “Nothing happens for a reason, Naruto-san. War changes nothing. It only repeats and repeats to leave us here. Whatever here is.”</p><p>Naruto was behind Sasuke, his chakra calm and collected. He came forward, drying his hands on the yellow apron he had put on for the occasion.</p><p>Naruto leaned in. “Don’t hurt him, Sasuke,” he said.</p><p>“I wasn’t going to,” Sasuke answered in an equally silent whisper, and kept his Sharingan in check.</p><p>“I’m sorry that I couldn’t save your parents, Takachi-san,” Naruto said, genuine regret colouring his voice. “You’re right when you say that war changes nothing, and I don’t claim that it happened for a reason. I just think that it will find its place, like everything else eventually will.”</p><p>“I despise people like you,” Takashi snarled, his hands balled into fists. “All talk and glamour. You know nothing about our situations. You know nothing about our pain. You’re a Jinchūriki. Eventually the monster will find itself in you. You may have already become one, what we call a beast.”</p><p>Naruto’s hands hovered over his stomach. “He didn’t like your speech, my monster, the beast, whatever. His name is Kurama,” Naruto said. “But you are right. I don’t know what it’s like to be you. I survived—but so did you. We just need to understand better; you, this village, and all the reasons that you choose it as your home. We have to make a choice one day. Your parents—"</p><p>Takashi’s chakra shifted. The aura that plagued Sasuke since the visit had spiked and ensnarled the entire room.</p><p>Sasuke took Naruto’s hand. He startled; glanced at him with bewilderment. “We will visit tomorrow, Takashi,” Sasuke said. “It doesn’t do well for the children to have a fight here.”</p><p>Takashi stayed silent. The aura had stilled, supple and ready, then subsided in waves. “Very well, Uchiha,” he said. “Thank you for doing the dishes, Naruto-san. I’m sure the kids would like to see you again.”</p><p>“I’m sure,” Naruto said, but Sasuke had already dragged him out of the room and into the cleared sky. A raindrop had fallen on the tip of Naruto’s nose. The sun peeked its head.</p><p>“He’s dangerous,” Sasuke said. “If he works for those who seek to harm you, he is a menace. If he works for his own will, then he is worse. No one is more willing to sacrifice than those in grief.”</p><p>Naruto only stared ahead. “It’s a beautiful place, isn’t, Sasuke?” Naruto gestured broadly; his arms wide open. He ran a few steps ahead, and swung on his heel to grin at him. “Lovely place for a picnic.”</p><p>“You are not listening,” Sasuke said, but he can see it. The sun had made the streets glisten. The hazard buildings strike with gray and gold against the dawn of the day. Naruto stood in the middle of it all, glazed by the blur of the haze.</p><p>“You forget that I can defend myself perfectly fine,” Naruto said. “I don’t need protection. I want you to be my eyes. I want you to retain beauty for awhile and store it aside. I was never good with reading and describing things. You’re good at it. I guess you can tell me about all the places we will visit when we can’t sleep.”</p><p>“I am not nursing a troubled child,” Sasuke said, his eyes wandering around and about. The world ruptured in colours, and beauty was everywhere where eyes can reach.</p><p>*</p><p>The rain continued in the night. “It was my choice to chase after you,” Naruto said, one arm behind his head when he laid on his bed. “You didn’t have anything to do with it. You aren’t guilty for caring more about your brother than anyone else. You aren’t guilty for pursuing him, for leaving us behind.”</p><p>The light of the candle flickered. Sasuke pinched the light out. “I want redemption. I want to forgive,” he said to the candle, his eyes adjusting, fixing on the single wick and the drooping wax.</p><p>The sheets shifted. A finger touched his and curled around it.</p><p>“Then promise,” Naruto said. “Promise that you’ll make it happen.”</p><p>Sasuke did.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Low Tide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em><br/>[Low tide is caused by the Moon’s tidal force, which causes Earth and its water to bulge out on the side closest to the Moon and the side farthest from it.]</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rumors were always the first to break, burning like a candle on both ends, languish over the brief fickle of flame, shrivelling to its ashes.</p>
<p><em>The loner</em>, they said of him at the Academy. The lone child of a cursed clan was the rumor, and the truth was lost even to Sasuke. He considered himself an avenger back then; Sasuke had considered himself lots of things over the years. None of them worked out; none of them outlasted or even served its purpose.</p>
<p>Sasuke breathed; the rumors could be starting now, right at this moment, where everything appeared as peaceful as this: a cup of tea, and Naruto’s head peeking out of the covers, and snores coming softly within.  </p>
<p>Naruto let out a pained moan.</p>
<p>It was early morning, and Sasuke was making tea with little that they were given. The cup clattered against the floor; he had knocked it off in passing.  </p>
<p>“Naruto?”</p>
<p>Naruto emitted a pitiful sound, his eyes clenching painfully. “It hurts,” he said. “It hurts,” he repeated feverishly, curling into a ball.</p>
<p>“I know,” Sasuke said, and reached out to hold his empty sleeve. Naruto blinked his eyes open, a trail of sweat around the corners.</p>
<p>“My arm hurts.”</p>
<p>Sasuke looked at the place where an arm should be. “I should think they’ve told you about the occurring pain of a phantom limb.”</p>
<p>Naruto sat up on the bed, still gasping for breath; Sasuke released his grip on the cloth, fluttering.</p>
<p>“Does yours hurt too?”</p>
<p>Sasuke walked away to clean the spilled tea. “It’s a standard medical phenomenon,” he said. “It’s the price we have to pay.”</p>
<p>Naruto winced, and after a moment, laughed. “Wish you could’ve seen reason before we battled each other to death.”</p>
<p>“One could say I still haven’t,” said Sasuke, throwing the shards of cup in the trash bin. “I’m not in Konoha right now, listening to their pathetic ideas. I am not convinced by them, and I have stolen its hero with me.” He stared at Naruto, the rumpled shirt, and his hair in spike. “Who is apparently my husband.”</p>
<p>Naruto snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re bothered by it.”</p>
<p>“People will talk. Rumors will start. You know it.”</p>
<p>“I know.”</p>
<p>“You don’t care.”</p>
<p>“Why should I? We are not in Konoha right now.”</p>
<p>Sasuke moved over to boil the water. “I will never go back. I have decided from the day I left.”</p>
<p>“And yet,” said Naruto, “you want redemption.”</p>
<p>Sasuke inclined his head. “I want to forgive,” he said.</p>
<p>“Who?”</p>
<p>“Whom,” corrected Sasuke.</p>
<p>Naruto rubbed the back of his head, looking away before his gaze flickered back to him. “What did you do wrong?”</p>
<p>Sasuke listened to the boiler scream. “Everything, according to most people.”</p>
<p>“I want to know what you think.”</p>
<p>“I think,” said Sasuke, “it would be better if things went as you said.”</p>
<p>Naruto hopped off the bed, and shook himself. “What did I say?”</p>
<p>“Die with me.”</p>
<p>Naruto put on his jacket and rolled his shoulders. “That was a promise.”</p>
<p>Sasuke poured tea from another cup and Naruto took it gingerly. “And you never go back on your promise.”</p>
<p>“That’s right—ow!” Naruto stuck his tongue out. “It’s really hot!”</p>
<p>“It’s boiling tea.”</p>
<p>Naruto staggered, his one hand grasping the handle weakly. “I know that,” he said.</p>
<p>Sasuke sipped his tea and the rain continued, on and on, until it was the only sound left.  </p>
<p>“Let’s head out,” said Naruto, his tea half-drunk. Sasuke’s eyes trailed on the black sleeve and his own, sensed the physical emptiness and the pain, and never felt more complete.<br/><br/></p>
<p>*</p>
<p>It wasn’t hard to love Itachi. It wasn’t hard to love the idea of sacrifice, the idea of redemption. Itachi was everything he wanted to be: in the shadows, Sasuke searched for his brother’s image and understood his life through his.</p>
<p>“Nii-san,” said Aki, her black eyes gleaming. “I can call you nii-san, right, Uchiha-san?”</p>
<p>Naruto nudged him with his elbow; Sasuke swatted it away.</p>
<p>“Right,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>She was thrilled. “Now I have three nii-san!”</p>
<p>“I am still the best one,” said Akio.</p>
<p>She laughed. “Naruto nii-san is going to take your place soon!”</p>
<p>Naruto joined the laughter, and ruffled Aki’s hair. “And Aki is the best sister I will ever have.”</p>
<p>Aki grinned, one of her front teeth missing. “Does Naruto nii-san have brothers and sisters?”</p>
<p>Naruto swung an arm over Sasuke’s shoulder. “This guy, sorta.”</p>
<p>“You don’t look alike!”</p>
<p>Naruto had a lop-sided smile. “Yeah, but all the same.”</p>
<p>Akio frowned. “I thought you were married.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” said Naruto, visibly confused for a moment. “Right. We aren’t real brothers, but he is for me, y’know?”</p>
<p>“So not biologically,” added Sasuke.</p>
<p>“Right! <em>Exactly</em>.”</p>
<p>Akio shook his head, along with a giggling Aki. “You guys are weird,” he commented.<br/><br/></p>
<p>*</p>
<p>It was hard to love Naruto. Not why; not how, if only because he was alive, and had lived better than anyone he had known. Naruto had lived his life to the brim, fuller than anyone else, more complete than anyone else; there was not one on earth more alive than him.</p>
<p>So it was hard; it was easy to love, but it was never wholly love with Naruto; because Sasuke hated him once, battled him twice, and another time if he could. It was easy to love Naruto for his eyes and the rarity of the colour; it was harder to love the way life radiated off him when he woke up in the morning. It was hard, and Sasuke wanted redemption; he wanted to forgive.</p>
<p>It was hard to love Naruto when both of them should have died together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Takashi had irrevocably exploded at their last night in Ame.</p>
<p>“Out!” he cried. “Out, out, out! All of you—”</p>
<p>“Nii-san,” said Akio. “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Sasuke stood in front of the children. “Calm down, Takashi.”</p>
<p>He had seen it before, even experienced it. The spiral, Takashi’s labored breathing, his death grip to the table.</p>
<p>“Breathe,” Sasuke ordered.</p>
<p>Takashi had two hands on his face.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Takashi said. “I’m sorry. Can you—can you—”</p>
<p>“C’mon,” Naruto said behind him softly, “I will get you kids outside.”</p>
<p>“But nii-san—”</p>
<p>“Nii-san wants to talk to Sasuke,” was Naruto’s kind retort. “C’mon, kids.”</p>
<p>When the door closed, it was Takashi that spoke first.</p>
<p>“You need to take them,” Takashi said. “The kids. They need to be away from me.”</p>
<p>Sasuke pulled over a chair; he sat down carefully. “What about the house?”</p>
<p>“There are other orphans in Amegakure, Uchiha-san.”</p>
<p>“You suggest an orphanage?”</p>
<p>“A rescue shelter.”</p>
<p>“You are hardly qualified to be a leader.”</p>
<p>“I have friends, Uchiha-san.”</p>
<p>Sasuke took in the disheveled appearance; the state he was in. “You don’t look like someone who would have friends.”</p>
<p>Takashi scoffed. “Neither do you.”</p>
<p>“Naruto is different.”</p>
<p>“He is your husband.”</p>
<p>“He is different,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>Takashi scrutinised him. “I don’t like him,” he said. “I have seen people like him before; arrogant, thinking that they can change the world for the better when they don’t know <em>shit</em>.”</p>
<p>Takashi looked at his hands, shaking. “But I want him to fix this. I want <em>someone</em> to fix this. I— I can’t do this to the children. I lash out sometimes. My chakra isn’t stable, I know this. There are too many children starving in this village. And the war—the war happened. People kept dying. Our parents have died. There are too much suffering. There are too many children like them, parentless and resourceless. I want someone to fix it.”</p>
<p>“Then fix it,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>Takashi paused. Sasuke saw the tears, and was reminded that the churning in his stomach was his own. There was a tug from the other end of his chakra, and warmth seeped through.</p>
<p>“We want change,” said Sasuke. “Change is instrumental. We are not heroes; not me, not him. The story of change is made by the people behind shadows. You are a shinobi; you had run away, and you’re going to run away again.”</p>
<p>A sob broke the silence.</p>
<p>“If you have friends,” continued Sasuke, “if you know suffering, you should know about it. All of it.”</p>
<p>Takashi looked up. “You would help us talk to the Amekage? About setting an orphanage?”</p>
<p>“We’ll help.”</p>
<p>Takashi laughed. “We, we, <em>we</em>. It’s always we with you, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>“Naruto and I desire the same thing.”</p>
<p>“Peace?”</p>
<p>Sasuke shook his head. “Change,” he said.</p>
<p>Takashi stood up and held a hand. Sasuke took it.</p>
<p>“We’ll see,” said Takashi.</p>
<p>“The world will,” Sasuke replied, and showed himself out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Sometimes, in the dead of the night, Naruto’s chakra will find his.</p>
<p>It wasn’t intended, but it was there, vivid and shimmering. Naruto’s chakra, not the Kyuubi’s, would surge up in the air and fill the room. It was chaotic, always jumping and sizzling, and Sasuke would hear it crackle, sometimes, and it would find his always.</p>
<p>Sometimes Sasuke saw Hyuuga Neji’s body lying in front of him, the hair loose and losing colour, and a bright symbol of a bird taking flight would take hold of the scene, then disappearing completely, dissolving like a dream. It was Naruto’s dream.</p>
<p>“Wake up, Naruto.”</p>
<p>The connection would break then. The subconscious took a step back, and Naruto would wake up, his body shivering to the pain, like a phantom ache, the search for something that was already lost, and lost still.</p>
<p>“I dreamt about your brother,” Naruto would say. “He was dying.”</p>
<p>Sasuke would give him tea, still hot from the early morning. They drank it in silence, and there went the sunrise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>The tower situated itself in the center of Ame, its metallic smell clung to their clothes as the rain poured.</p>
<p>“Yo, grandma.”</p>
<p>And the Amekage is a deeply unpleasant woman, Sasuke thought.</p>
<p>Her slight figure contorted as she turned around. Her eyes gouged as she spoke. “Disrespectful youth these days… what do you want, Uzumaki? I can’t allow you another day. We would risk transparency to our enemies.”</p>
<p>“Allies,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>“Whatever.” Naruto waved a hand. “I’m here for the orphanage.”</p>
<p>“The what?”</p>
<p>“The orphanage.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?”</p>
<p>“Where you gather parentless children in a place where they get care,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>The Amekage’s enormous eyes stared at him. “Who are you?”</p>
<p>“He’s my friend and none of your business,” said Naruto. “We have contacts in Ame that wish to build an orphanage. There is already a house that can do for now. All we need is the license.”</p>
<p>The Amekage stuck her tongue out. “License? That <em>boring</em> thing? No way.”</p>
<p>“Grandma—”</p>
<p>“Don’t call me grandma! Little brat. You have stayed in my village long enough…”</p>
<p>Sasuke covered Naruto’s mouth with one hand. “There is a treaty signed between the Nations,” Sasuke spoke softly, “that guarantees a budget for every participants. Any disagreement between Konoha and Ame will lead to the latter’s expulsion. Now, if one hypothetically assumes the worst, something like upsetting Konoha’s ninja…”</p>
<p>Naruto hmpfed in his hand.</p>
<p>“Like upsetting Uzumaki Naruto,” Sasuke continued, unfazed. “There is not a small chance of budget-cut, which will lead to—”</p>
<p>The Amekage munched her food and gulped. “What’s that thing with the orphanage anyway? Explain it to me and I might— er, consider it.”</p>
<p>“What we <em>want</em> is this,” said Sasuke, and released Naruto’s mouth, which spluttered a list of things, and then some more. And more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Akio was the first one to ask: “So where are we going?”</p>
<p>Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to stay? We’re doing some pretty boring stuff, y’know. There will be caretakers in Ame now, so I don’t see—”</p>
<p>“But I want to stay with nii-san!”</p>
<p>“Akio,” said Aki, “be reasonable. We will be a burden to them.”</p>
<p>Naruto shook his head quickly. “No, no! Not at all! We just thought that you might want to stay.”</p>
<p>Aki’s glare was fierce. “Then ask us next time,” he said. “You don’t have to guess it. Don’t ignore us.”</p>
<p>Naruto stopped in his track. “Sorry.”</p>
<p>But Akio wasn’t paying attention. “So we are allowed, Naruto nii-san?” she asked. “We are allowed to come with you?”</p>
<p>Naruto peered at Sasuke. Sighing, he nodded.</p>
<p>Aki jumped in his arms.</p>
<p>“I know a better way,” said Naruto, and let her on his back and swirled her around.</p>
<p>“Where are we going, Naruto-nii?”</p>
<p>“Suna!” he cried. “You will see, they are nice people there. The Kazegake is a super cool guy.”</p>
<p>Akio hugged him tight. “Is he your brother too, Naruto nii-san?”</p>
<p>Naruto laughed in delight. “Yeah, he’s the cool one, though.”</p>
<p>“Like Sasuke nii-san?”</p>
<p>“Sasuke’s different,” said Naruto, smiling. “He’s a bastard.”</p>
<p>“And you’re a moron,” said Sasuke. Aki had come to his side. The rain hadn’t stopped. The boy motioned over, and Sasuke was forced to bend down to listen.</p>
<p>“I know,” Aki whispered, “I know Naruto nii-san just said that to make Akio happy. The marriage.”</p>
<p>Sasuke shrugged. “Is she happy?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Aki said, a corner of his mouth tugged up. “My sister hadn’t been like this since our parents died.”</p>
<p>Sasuke took note of the child’s clothes. He ought to talk with Naruto about them. Just because he was a fashion disaster did not mean that the children needed to follow his example. “Are you happy?” he asked.</p>
<p>Aki blinked. “I am,” he said after a while. “Just like you, Sasuke nii-san.”</p>
<p>“You love her,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>“We have each other,” Aki answered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Just before they left, Sasuke received a letter from Sakura. Naruto received one in kind.</p>
<p>
  <em>Sasuke-kun, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I hope all is well. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Konoha is gathering up strength again. Hokage-sama (can you believe it? Kakashi-sensei!) is issuing order on something that I felt like it would be better if I issued it in a separate letter:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He is ordering for the re-establishment of the Uchiha name. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The Uchiha will be given a title and an open statement of honour. A celebration will be held some time later, which I know you won’t attend, but I still wanted to inform you. I know how much you have wanted the Uchiha clan to be revived. I know it’s hardly in this sense of the word, but I hope you approve Kakashi-sensei’s project. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Reform is happening in the subject of ANBU and ninja education in Konoha. I am not aware of much, since I am only consulting medical-nin, but I trust the Hokage’s judgment. It is true that change is in the air, Sasuke-kun. There is so much to see; there is so much to do. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>How are you? Are you going to write back? Tell me how you are. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sakura</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>PS: I don’t think it’s much interest to you, but I am dating someone. Might last; might not. I’m very happy with my life. I hope you are too.<br/></em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“What did she write to you?”</p>
<p>“The village,” said Sasuke. “Yours?”</p>
<p>And Naruto’s eyes were bright and happy, just like Sakura hoped. “The Hyuuga clan is considering dropping the curse,” he said, “for Neji.”</p>
<p>Sasuke glanced at Naruto’s letter; they were dotted with tears. “It’s a matter of survival, too,” said Sasuke. “Their useless tradition had restricted some of their best to gain power. That’s why their clan was weaker than ours. We have always preferred the strongest to take hold.”</p>
<p>“Whatever,” said Naruto. “It’s good. It was all Hinata’s efforts. I should thank her.”</p>
<p>“Sakura is dating,” said Sasuke.</p>
<p>Naruto’s eyes dimmed. “Right,” he said. “She told me.”</p>
<p>“You love her,” Sasuke said.</p>
<p>“I do,” Naruto said. “I have always loved her, you know. Even when she was always chasing after you.”</p>
<p>“Now she’s not. She can change her mind again.”</p>
<p>Naruto shook his head, his smile growing by the second. “She doesn’t want to live with me. I don’t even think she wants to live with you. This wish— I have thought about it when I was a child.”</p>
<p>And it was hard, Sasuke thought, to say the things they had known for long. When Naruto first said it, Sasuke wasn’t there, not really. There wasn’t any chance later.</p>
<p>“I wanted to,” said Sasuke. “I have wanted to live with you. To have a friend. To have someone to hope for.”</p>
<p>“A family.” Naruto said the word with a reverence and awe that brought Sasuke back to the pond, and a child. “A family,” he said. “I have always wanted that.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” said Sasuke. “I know.”</p>
<p>And it was hard to admit that if they didn’t die together, they might as well live.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! ♡</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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